*Presiding Justices to oversee and determine date of sittings
*Only essential and time-bound cases to be heard
*Abuja gets five panels
By Malachy Uzendu
Worried about the negative consequences of halting justice dispensation in the country, the acting President of the Court of Appeal has set up Special Appeal Panels to determine urgent and time bound cases.
In a memo with reference number PCA/NJC/ASS./XXVI dated 21st April, 2020, all the Justices of the court in the eight Divisions had been informed.
A notice with reference number PCA/JJ/VOL.XV, personally signed by Justice M. B. Dongban-Mensen, Acting President of the Court, stated that the Judges would resume sitting on Monday, 27th April (today).
Irrespective of the court’s division where affected justices were primarily posted, the PCA told them that “you are hereby empaneled to sit in the under-mentioned divisions, for now, to hear and determine all essential, urgent and time-bound motions and appeals pending in the said divisions”.
The memo added that “the presiding Justices shall oversee and communicate the date of sittings”.
The memo listed all the Justices of the Court in the eight divisions of Lagos, Ibadan, Kaduna, Enugu, Benin, Jos, Port Harcourt, and Akure.
Specifically, it grouped the court into five panels each to be headed by Justices Abdu Aboki, Justice J. O Bada, Steven Adah, A. Jauro, and Dongan-Mensen, respectively.
